It has probably been the worst winter of my life… several times I was close to the point when hope and perseverance almost snapped to become frustration or desparation…
In november, usually a good month to target grayling and pike, I was so busy at work that I hardly hat time to go fishing. Also, after a long and hot summer, water levels still were on a record low. Many waters were not fishable, and many species, such as graylings, I decided to leave alone as spawning season was approaching and the fish had suffered from the heat during summer.
December wasn’t any better, and work drained my power to a degree that I did not have enough stamina to search for hucho (Danube salmon). The one time I tried between Christmas and New Year, I had to surrender after a few hours.
January came, and with it suddenly all the water we had previously been missing – high water everywhere, and I caught a cold. Perfect!
Hope was high that my long-planned trip to New Guinea would make up for everything, but this trip became (concerning the fishing) the biggest disaster ever: a report will follow when I have gotten over it.
Anyway… it all didn’t get much better, but hopes were high for the trout opening. FIVE MONTHS without a fish! I think I was a bit nervous after all that time…
There was still a little frost in the shade, the stream carried a bit more water than normally, and it was a little bit cloudy. First cast, first fish!!! Wow, who would have thought that! A little one still, but a fish after all! And I was reminded again of the beauty of a wild brown trout… to me it is one of the most beautiful fish in the world – but I might be biased 😉
Only half an hour later, a big dark-golden shadow inhaled my fly, THIS was a huge trout, this is what I had been longing for all these months…. set…. two headshakes, and GONE! No way… last year I hardly lost any fish at all, what was wrong!?
With my spirits low again, I strolled along the river, casting here and there. And then the sun came out, and it shone on my face as if it wanted to cheer me up. The birds were singing, spring flowers were blooming and it was just too beatiful to be disappointed. And after a while, a strong pull on my streamer finally sealed the deal. 
I finally had hooked up to my redemption trout, a sturdy brown trout with a little less than 20in. Not a giant, but a beautiful wild fish which made me finally realize why I endure all those setbacks and that after every rain there is sunshine eventually.
I wish you all a good start into the season, with many adventures near and far, and plenty of great moments to remember!